The Australian women's basketball team began its European tour with a gritty 57-49 victory over Turkey in Karlovy Cary, Czech Republic.
Liz Cambage played a leading hand for the Opals with a 16-point haul and seven rebounds, and she was ably assisted by Abby Bishop, who tallied 12 points and six rebounds.
Lauren Jackson added a solid 10 points, with the Opals to meet Hungary in their next game on Sunday (AEST).
Tags: basketball, olympics-summer, sport, turkey First posted June 09, 2012 12:40:20Wollongong turned up the heat on Melbourne after half-time to cruise to a 71-61 victory at The Cage on Sunday night.
Hawks forward Oscar Forman scored 18 points on a dead-eye 7-of-10 shooting, 12 of those from three-point range, and retiring guard Mat Campbell added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
The Tigers erased a two-point quarter-time deficit to tie things up by half-time, but Wollongong kept its nose ahead after three periods and then stormed home 20-12 in the final quarter.
Melbourne swingman Benny Lewis and big man Matthew Burston had 11 points each for the Tigers, while Tom Greer chipped in seven points and eight rebounds.
Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, melbourne-3000, vic, wollongong-2500, nsw, australia First posted March 18, 2012 21:39:30Adam Gibson awoke Gold Coast Blaze from a first-half slumber to steamroll the Kings 84-72 in their NBL game in Sydney.
The Blaze were in foul trouble and trailed by six points at half-time before Gibson (17 points, nine assists) exploded with 15 points and three assists in the third quarter.
Mark Worthington (12 points, seven rebounds) sat out most of the second quarter due to foul trouble, but returned in the second half to wreak havoc, draining three-pointers at one end and blocking Kings shots at the other.
Blaze guard Adris Deleon had a game-high 29 points, his outside shooting and control of the offence a struggle for the Kings to contain.
When Deleon and Worthington again hit from three-point range the Blaze led by 14 with just under two minutes left and the contest was over.
Sydney's Jerai Grant, chief tormentor the last time these two sides met, had a tough night, while star centre Julian Khazzouh's influence was fleeting.
Anatoly Bose (21 points) tried in vain to bring the home side back into contention, while Khazzouh (16 points, nine rebounds) and Ben Madgen (14 points, four rebounds, four assists) provided the best support.
Meanwhile, the Taipans defeated Perth Wildcats 76-67 at Cairns Convention Centre.
AAP
Tags: nbl, basketball, sport, sydney-2000, carrara-4211 First posted February 10, 2012 23:32:05The New Zealand Breakers out-shot and out-rebounded the Adelaide 36ers on the way to a dominant 80-63 win in their NBL match in Auckland.
In their first home game of a four-match stretch, the Breakers ratcheted up the pressure as Friday's game progressed, winning every quarter but the last for a victory which underlined their position at the top of the table.
Tom Abercrombie led the way with 22 points, backed up by Gary Wilkinson (17) and Cedric Jackson (12), while Chris Warren fronted for Adelaide with 14, and Stephen Weigh chipped in with 10.
The Breakers' win came on the back of a superb defensive team effort.
Led by Mika Vukona, Dillon Boucher and Alex Pledger, the New Zealand team out-rebounded Adelaide 50-24, dominating the boards at both ends.
Coach Andrej Lemanis worked his bench hard to build on a 26-26 first-quarter lead, keeping the Breakers' momentum rolling in the second spell as they took a 43-30 lead into halftime.
The Breakers lost their way early in the third quarter, some disjointed play and messy shooting offering Adelaide a brief glimpse of hope as they narrowed the deficit to nine four minutes into the spell.
However, a couple of key assists and a brace of lay-ups from Jackson coupled with a Wilkinson three-pointer wrested the momentum back to the home team, and they went into the three-quarter break leading 65-46.
The Breakers struggled for fluency in the final spell, but although Adelaide took the quarter 17-15, the end result was never in doubt.
It has been almost a month since the 36ers recorded a win, with losses to the Breakers, Cairns Taipans, Sydney Kings and Gold Coast seeing them plummet down the table as five wins from 16 games leaves them languishing in eighth place.
Perth maintained top spot on the NBL ladder with an emphatic 92-80 win over Gold Coast at Challenge Stadium in Perth on Friday night.
Jesse Wagstaff continued his recent hot run of form with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting in just under 22 minutes to lead a Wildcats team that took control after a tight first quarter.
The win improves Perth to a 12-5 record, while the Blaze now sit on a 6-8 record and have a short turnaround before facing Melbourne on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Cairns Taipans dealt the Wollongong Hawks another close loss on Friday night, the Queenslanders winning 61-59 in Wollongong.
Andrew Warren drained a go-ahead triple with just over a minute to play and Cairns held on when Rhys Martin's corner three sailed long on the buzzer.
"Things are extremely tough, obviously everyone is working so hard to try and get that win and give our fans something to cheer about," Hawks coach Gordie McLeod said.
AAP
Tags: sport, basketball, new-zealand First posted January 13, 2012 21:49:19The Lightning posted a comfortable 88-67 victory over Logan Thunder at Adelaide Arena.
Suzy Batkovic-Brown led the scoring for the Lightning via a 27-point haul, while Renae Camino impressed for the Thunder with 24 points.
In other results, Dandenong Rangers won on the road through a 73-64 result over the Fire in Townsville, the Spirit triumphed 80-58 against AIS at Bendigo Stadium and Sydney Uni Flames downed Canberra Capitals 76-70 at AIS Arena.
Tags: wnbl, basketball, sport, adelaide-5000 First posted December 10, 2011 22:26:22